Dennis Amiss and John Jameson have taken the Greatest Ever Bears Opening Pair accolade by a landslide margin.
Amiss and Jameson were up against some stiff competition on the short-list but saw it off as emphatically as they saw off countlesss bowling attacks over many years, taking the accolade with an amazing 85 per cent of the vote.
That huge win is no disrespect to the other short-listed players, it simply reflects the qualities of Amiss and Jameson and the affection in which they are held by Bears fans to whom they gave so much pleasure.
Amiss was just a class batsman. Jameson was a fine player with a power and belligerence which took the attack to opponents from ball one. Together, they formed one of the finest opening alliances that county cricket, never mind Warwickshire, has ever known.
The Bears pair also have a unique place in World Cup history. When England played their inaugural World Cup match, against India at Lord’s in 1975, they batted first and out went Amiss and Jameson to launch England’s World Cup existence.
Curiously, they never opened the batting for England in Tests. In the two Tests they played together, against West Indies in February and March 1974, Jameson went in at number three after Amiss opened with Geoff Boycott in Jamaica and Mike Denness in Barbados.
